The caches were often shaped like a jug with a
narrow mouth. Six to eight feet deep, they held twenty to thirty bushels of
produce, and a ladder was used to enter the larger ones. Many caches were
within the lodges, while others were outside but near the lodges. The women
did the work of digging, lining, and filling the caches. Gathering a long
grass that grew near the river or a spring, the women bundled and dried it for
use as a lining. They then dug the pit, using a short-handled scapula hoe, and
laid a floor of dead and dried willow sticks evenly and tightly into the
bottom. Over this, they placed the grass lining, followed by a circular piece
of hide cut to fit the bottom. In the larger caches, a bull-boat cover was
used. The sides of the cache were also lined with the dried grass, which was
held in place by long willow sticks that were secured to the sides with pins
made from willow forks. All materials were carefully dried to avoid spoilage
from moisture.

According to Buffalo Bird Woman [a Hidatsa],
strings of braided dried maize were placed four ears deep around the bottom of
the cache pit. In the center, dried, loose grain was placed up to the top of
the four-tiered series of braided strings. A string of dried squash was then
piled in the center of the pit on top of the dried corn, and a second series
of braided corn was placed around the edges to a height even with the piled
squash. The shelled grain was again scooped in to cover the squash, and the
process was repeated until the cache pit was filled. The dried squash, which
was prone to rotting, was thus protected from moisture by the shelled maize,
which did not spoil easily. A buffalo-hide cover, a layer of bundled dry
grass, a small log puncheon, and another layer of grass and hide completed the
covering of the cache pit. Finally, earth and a loose dusting of ashes and
refuse were added to hide the valuable store.—Lynn M. Alex in South
Dakota History, used with permission.